Hewlett Packard Enterprise will pursue a lawsuit towards the property of British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, who died in August after his yacht sank off the coast of Sicily.

Britain’s Excessive Courtroom in 2022 dominated largely in favor of the U.S. know-how firm, which accused Lynch and his former finance director of fraud over its $11 billion takeover of his software program firm Autonomy. Hewlett Packard is searching for as much as $4 billion in damages, and the choose is predicted to challenge a choice on the ultimate sum quickly.

Lynch died when his yacht, the Bayesian, sank in a storm off Sicily on Aug. 19. His widow, Angela Bacares, may now be answerable for the damages. Months earlier than the sinking, Lynch was acquitted in a separate U.S. felony trial of fraud and conspiracy expenses within the deal.

Hewlett Packard initially celebrated the pricey acquisition of Lynch’s firm in 2011 however rapidly got here to remorse it. The corporate stated in a press release Monday that it had “considerably succeeded” in its civil fraud claims towards Lynch and Sushovan Hussain, the previous finance director.

“It’s HPE’s intention to observe the proceedings via to their conclusion.”

Nevertheless, the choose within the U.Ok. civil case has already dominated that the quantity payable in damages can be “considerably much less” than the corporate is searching for.

A spokesperson for Lynch’s household declined to remark.

Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah have been amongst six passengers who died when his 184-foot luxurious yacht sank rapidly in a storm on Aug. 19. One crew member, the boat’s chef, additionally died, whereas 15 folks survived the catastrophe. That they had gathered on the yacht to rejoice Lynch’s acquittal.

The incident has raised questions, as one other sailboat that had been anchored close by off the coast of Palermo made it via the storm unscathed.  Officers initially stated the yacht was struck by a twister over the water, often called a waterspout. Prosecutors in Italy are investigating the captain on attainable expenses together with manslaughter.

The captain, engineer and a sailor aboard the yacht, known as “Bayesian,” have been positioned investigation for attainable manslaughter in reference to the shipwreck. 

Federal authorities searched for years to extradite Lynch from the U.Ok. to face a number of counts of fraud and conspiracy within the U.S. associated to HP’s acquisition of Autonomy.